The present invention relates generally to safety ski bindings and more particularly to a safety ski binding of the type having a movable holding member supporting a sole gripping element adapted to engage the edge of one end of a ski boot sole and maintain the sole against the ski or an intermediate plate during skiing but to permit release of the boot upon a predetermined minimum separating stress.
In known fastenings of this kind, such as that described in French Pat. No. 1,435,230, the movable member supporting the sole hold travels along the lengthwise axis of the elastic means. As a result, the ratio between the required release effort and the opposing force of the biasing means is approximately equal to 1 thus necessitating the presence of comparatively strong and therefore bulky biasing means. Moreover, any necessary adjustment of the tension requires a likewise comparatively heavy and bulky device.
The safety binding according to the present invention serves to avoid this disadvantage by providing a ratio greater than 1 between the effort required for release and the opposing force of the biasing means, thus permitting comparatively light and therefore less bulky biasing means than in the prior art. This accomplishes a two fold advantage over the prior art devices in that the overall weight of the binding is reduced and the manufacturing costs are reduced. Moreover, devices for adjusting the tension of the biasing means may be manufactured to a smaller size thus achieving an advantage of being less cumbersome to use.